EU and US are increasingly disappointed by Somalia dodgy President Hassan Sheikh

File Photo/Somali Times




Despite billions of dollars in international support, the Somalia army has failed in the face of months of attacks by the Al-Shabab group, and donors are growing impatient, according to the AFP news agency.

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Using hundreds of fighters and a suicide car bomb, Al-Shabab retook the town of Moqokori on July 7, the latest in a series of government defeats this year.

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This gave them a strategic geographical position from which to launch attacks in the Hiran region, but it was also a significant victory for local tribal militias that had been “the government’s best force” in the fight against Al-Shabab, according to International Crisis Group.

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The Somalia government has been fighting the Islamist group since the mid-2000s, and its power has fluctuated, but it now faces a difficult combination of dwindling international support, a demoralized military, and internal political infighting.

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The government relied on local militias, known as “Macawisley,” in a successful campaign in 2022-23, in which it captured some 200 towns and villages from Al-Shabab.

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But the group’s counter-offensive this year has seen it recapture up to 90 percent of the territory it lost, according to Somalia army officials.

Towns that were supposed to be models of stability, such as Masajid Ali Gadud and Aden Yabal, have fallen out of control. Three bridges over the Shabelle River, which were vital for the army’s supply lines, have been destroyed.

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“The entire area from northwest to southwest of Mogadishu is now largely controlled by Al-Shabab, AFP news agency.

The Mogadishu campaign collapsed, because the government of President Hassan Sheikh has been a total failure to work with the clans,” giving power to some and not to others, based on political bias rather than military necessity.

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“The mobilization was going well when the president came from Mogadishu to launch the first phase of the offensive (in 2022). Everyone was heavily involved in the fight helping the national army.




“It’s not like before because the leadership is no longer involved, and there seems to be a lack of discipline in how the community militias are organized.

The Somalia National Army has done little to stop the group, which is not surprising for a force “still in the building stage while trying to fight at the same time.




Their most effective unit, the US-trained “Danab” commando unit, is good at killing militants but not good at holding ground, and has suffered demoralizing losses among its officers.

“We are starting to see an army that is not only ineffective, but also losing the will to fight,” he said.

These problems are rooted in the broader chaos of Somali politics, where shifting demands from clans have never led to anything close to national unity.




“It is unfortunate that attention has been diverted to trivial political issues that do not contribute to security, instead of focusing on strengthening the armed forces,” former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed recently told reporters.

Al-Shabab has not launched a full-scale assault on the capital, but it has made its presence known repeatedly.

Indiscriminate shelling of the airport has reached an all-time high, the diplomat said, and President Hassan Sheikh narrowly escaped an attack on his compound outside the presidential palace in March.

The group also controls much of the economy.

“It collects more taxes than the government. Its commercial arm